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Home on the Rhine |
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Track List
When Angels Falls
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It's a constant amazement (and, also, somewhat disheartening) to discover how popular country music - that most American of genres - is in Europe. In Germany, real country music is alive and thriving, and one of the best of the dance hall doctors offering alternative treatment to the mainstream drivel is Hermann Lammers Meyer and his Emsland Hillbillies. With a voice that's reminiscent of "Whisperin' Bill" Anderson, Meyer delivers sweet and soulful country music straight out of the Appalachians, by way of Hamburg. His voice blends wonderfully with some terrific guitar picking, fiddle-sawing, and crying steel. Musicians "Big F' Buddy Emmons on steel, Pete Wade on guitar, and Buddy Spicher on fiddle are top drawer; Meyer himself is joined on vocals by his sister, Marion Möhring, herself an impressive singer, on "Faithful," as well as Norma Jean on "Foggy Mountain Top," Lois Johnson on (You Make) A Left and Then A Right," and David Frizzell on "Best Part of Nothing." The band is rounded out by David Smith on bass, Michael Ballew on acoustic guitar, Gene Chrisman on drums, and the CMA Musician Of The Year, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, on piano. The Callaways and Michael Ballew pitch in with additional vocals. Track by track, Meyer shows us what real
country music should sound like. Playful lyrics, crisp tunes, excellent
playing, and great vocals combine to make some sure-fire two-stepping
honky-tonk country music. This is the real thing, even if it came from a
strange direction. But then, it's certainly true that Germany has
embraced our Hermann Lammers Meyer puts together a happy-go-lucky sound that feels as real and as refreshing as a trip to the mountains - the Appalachians or the Rockies, that is. But Meyer was born in 1952 in Germany. His musical interests were influenced by American GIs who played and sang their own style of music, and broadcast it on the German airwaves via the Armed Forces Network. Hermann developed a passion for the heartbreaking sound of the steel guitar, and his love for the music it played drove him to seek out the sound every place he could. He amassed an impressive record collection and eventually got an instrument of his own and began to play with friends. A few years of fairs and festivals, and the little group decided to put together a real band. In October of 1973 they took the stage at a class meeting and wowed the crowd with their real country sounds. They didn't mean for it to lead to professional gigs, but somehow, it did. In 1977 they recorded their first album and worked to become the number one country band in Germany, singing American-style country music with German lyrics to a German audience. Meyer officially formed the Emsland Hillbillies in 1980 at the International Country Music Festival in Frankfurt, performing with the likes of Bobby Bare, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Rich, and the Bellamy Brothers. Meyer has toured Texas with Clay Blaker & The Texas Honky-Tonk Band as "The Texas County Road Show," as well as successful tours across Europe and the Netherlands. He's played with Don Walser and Willie Nelson. He's got an impressive catalog of songs and discs, as well as older LPs and new projects on the burner. All in all, this is some smart real country music. Hermann's sound is purely traditional and still purely new and unique. He has a terrific approach and his songs are wonderful fun.
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Kathy Coleman
Take Country Back December 2002